Meet our new Cancer Support Specialist Kim

Kim Murray has joined Cancer Fund for Children as our new Cancer Support Specialist based on St John’s Ward, Children’s Health Ireland – Crumlin.

Working as part of the multidisciplinary team, Kim’s role as a Cancer Support Specialist is to provide informal social and emotional support to ensure children diagnosed with cancer and their parents feel supported during their time in hospital.  Her role is funded by the Kate Nugent Fund and delivered in partnership with Children’s Health Ireland.

Kim has a wealth of experience supporting families having worked for over 10 years as a social worker.  She says,

I offer support primarily at times of great stress – at diagnosis, following relapse and during end of life care. Families are often worried about what the future might hold. They also have to absorb an enormous amount of complex clinical information and are concerned about the impact their child’s diagnosis will have on the rest of their family and on their ability to work.

My role is critical in helping families process the enormity of what is happening to them and helping them validate how they are feeling. I stay connected with them throughout their journey and when they have blips along the road, I am here to support them emotionally and to provide them with tools and techniques to help them cope better.

The most exciting part of my new role is having the time to sit and chat with families. For the first time, I can devote 100% of my time to providing the whole family with emotional support they need. Whilst there has been phycological support available to children with cancer there has not been a healthcare professional on the ward in St John’s who has had the time to provide this support to their families and to have this opportunity is so rewarding.

Cancer Fund for Children’s mission is to ensure children across the Island of Ireland don’t have to face cancer alone.  Find out more about the support we offer families impacted by paediatric cancer here.